As we have heard during the last two Wednesdays, the effectiveness of the family assistance component of your organization’s response to an incident or accident has a profound and lasting effect. We’ve witnessed how the scarring for the surviving family members never goes away, and neither should the emotional and other support provided to them. Hopefully your organization has prepared well for this ultimate “what-if” scenario, because when it occurs, those responders engaging with family members had better be well-trained and well-suited for their ad-hoc roles. We heard Tricia Coffman tell us how grateful she was and remains today, for the compassionate response she received from her late husband’s employer. Also remarkable was her experience of support from NTSB officials, who communicated with her throughout the ordeal. An unthinkable accident can happen to any organization at any time. Organizations may not be fully aware that the NTSB has an organization that focuses on disaster response – the Transportation Disaster Assistance (TDA) Division. Transitioning from the on-scene accident investigation phase, the TDA acts as the focal point for family members as the investigation proceeds. Counseling, victim identification, and general investigation procedural awareness are just some of the services provided.
In this third and final part of this series, our chief presenter will be Dr Elias Kontanis, Director of NTSB’s Transportation Disaster Assistance (TDA) division. Elias will discuss the highly effective resources available through the NTSB and the highly skilled personnel assigned to such critical roles. Also presenting will be Tom Huff, Aviation Safety Officer with Gulfstream Aerospace. Please join us to hear the thoughts of Elias and Tom.
Aired: Wednesday November 4, 2020, 1:00pm US Eastern Daylight Time
